THE RIGHT: AWFUL THAT FARRAKHAN WAS AT ARETHA'S FUNERAL! ALSO THE RIGHT: AWFUL THAT FARRAKHAN WASN'T IN MORE PICTURES!

I don't know why Louis Farrakhan was invited to Aretha Franklin's funeral. Deadline quotes a statement from Farrakhan that cites his long acquaintance with Franklin:

'In 1972, when I was minister in New York City, Temple No 7, the police attacked our mosque. Within a few hours, Aretha Franklin came to the mosque, to my office, and said that she saw the news and came as quickly as she could to stand with us and offer us her support,’ Farrakhan wrote.

'She asked me if Rev Jesse Jackson had been there to show support. I said, not yet. She said, he’ll be here within 48 hours. Rev Jackson came and stood with the Muslims....'

The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League can get you up to speed on Farrakhan's anti-Semitism and conspiracy-mongering. But this was Franklin's choice. He was there, along with a wide range of other luminaries. Would you not go to Aretha's funeral because he was in attendance? She's Aretha Franklin. Of course you'd go.

No one on the right seems prepared to argue that attendees should have boycotted the funeral -- but they seem rather obsessed with Farrakhan's presence, as if the rest of the event was just a sideshow. Here's a report from BizPac Review:

The tributes were “amazing” [Martha] MacCallum said to her panel on Fox News’ “The Story” Friday. “But I did keep finding myself distracted by Louis Farrakhan who was in every single shot. I’m thinking, ‘What was he doing there?’”

... “Why was he so front and center?” MacCallum asked. “It’s something that’s supposed to be about Aretha Franklin became, I thought, in many ways about some of these gentlemen who were right behind.”

Really, Martha, the funeral was about Aretha, except to obsessives like you, and to fellow righties at sites such as the Daily Caller ("ANTI-SEMITE LOUIS FARRAKHAN SPOTTED IN THE FRONT ROW AT ARETHA FRANKLIN’S FUNERAL"), Townhall ("Bill Clinton Sits on Stage with Louis Farrakhan At Aretha Franklin's Memorial Service"), PJ Media ("Bill Clinton Stands Feet Away From Anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan at Aretha Franklin Funeral"), and Hot Air ("Just A Reminder: Louis Farrakhan Is Sufficiently Mainstream To Have Appeared Onstage With A Former President Today").

And while one message in the right-wing media was "Why is Farrakhan so visible at this funeral?," another message was "Why is the sneaky liberal media trying to make him invisible?" You just can't win with these people. Gateway Pundit's headline is "MORE LIES: Liberal Media Crops Louis Farrakhan Out of Photos with Bill Clinton at Aretha Franklin’s Funeral." Twitchy has "POOF HE’S GONE! MSNBC and ABC crop out Louis Farrakhan from Aretha Franklin funeral photo." BizPac Review's headline: "Farrakhan was ‘front and center’ at Aretha funeral, but networks made him magically disappear." All because some of the wide shots don't show Farrakhan (while others do).

Revs. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and former Pres. Bill Clinton seated next to one another at the Greater Grace Temple in Detroit for Aretha Franklin's funeral service. All three are expected to deliver personal remarks on the iconic singer. https://t.co/GsAKjngPBB pic.twitter.com/Z4dnVb3iT4

— ABC News (@ABC) August 31, 2018

Rev. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and fmr. President Bill Clinton attend Aretha Franklin's funeral celebration. https://t.co/MTlJAs1ET2 pic.twitter.com/hI7Z4GtvnV

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 31, 2018

On stage in front at Aretha Franklin’s funeral are Min. Louis Farrakhan, Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and former president Bill Clinton https://t.co/FOic3yqVw8 #ArethaHomegoing pic.twitter.com/ClQOPuU6Jt

— Niraj Warikoo (@nwarikoo) August 31, 2018

Here's CBSNews.com with Farrakhan in a photo. Here's a Farrakhan shot at The New York Times.

But the right wants you to believe there was a liberal-media conspiracy of silence regarding Farrakhan's presence.

And then, on the other hand, the Daily Wire's headline is "HYPOCRITES: Democrats Try Mainstreaming Racist Preacher Farrakhan At Aretha Franklin's Funeral." We know that the right believes the Democratic Party and the mainstream media are just separate tentacles of the same evil octopus. So the media is bad for not showing Farrakhan repeatedly, but Democrats who attended the funeral are bad for standing "feet away" from him because it helped "mainstream" Farrakhan?

I give up.